17mm driver into keygos m10

Ok, I’ve been procrastinating about this for too long, so with a short day at work and an empty house, I decided to get on it.

I fitted this driver

And a u3 1c emitter from intl outdoor, the driver was out of stock last time I looked, but they are supposed to be getting more, might be time for an email bombardment as these drivers rock! 8)

First strip the light down and get the pill out.

<a href=http://s185.photobucket.com/albums/x48/gords1001/?action=view&current=IMAG0510.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x48/gords1001/IMAG0510.jpg border=0 alt=>

Notice the nice amount of threads, and this threads a long way into the head, if you want a c8 sized light with a good smooth beam that’ll take plenty of current and is easy to mod, get one of these.

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Notice the brass driver retaining ring? That is important, 1:- it makes the stock 20mm driver easy to remove, 2:- the id of that ring is close to 17mm………

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That’s the new driver, just but not quite fitting in the ring, so out with the driver and ring, deburr the ring so it has a nice smooth edge, then lightly sand the edge of the driver, working and checking till its a light interference fit in the ring.

Poke the led wires through the holes, then fit the driver in the ring and solder the negative connection to the ring, if your driver needs it, solder on the positive spring.

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Now, I mentioned a u3 1c… You can use either a 16mm board like me, or the 20mm board the pill is designed for, it doesn’t matter. The pill has a plastic centering piece that fits around the led die, there’s enough clearance for the wires on a 17mm board.

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So wire in your led, stick a bit of thermal paste (i used diamond paste from maplin) and the pills prepped.

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Reassemble the light and your ready to test.

The keygos cell I had in didn’t want to give more than 2.5a, but its quite run down, with a charged king Kong and the driver set to ramping, I can go from no reading up to 3.67a 8) (did I mention I love this driver? Well I do)

What’s noticeable is at mid way through the ramping, the beam looks light a stock m10, as it ramps to full the hotspot seems to increase in size and intensity with the spill brightening up some, this was all checked in day light. I now can’t wait for half four when it’ll be dark.

So there you go, any 17mm driver cam be fitted with a bit of care and some sand paper.

And the m10 driver? That went in my uf-v3 for a bit of a kick in the pants, took about ten minutes, so, two modded lights in an hour and a half including playing, not bad for a noob. :cowboy_hat_face:

Those upgrades makes the M10 the perfect C8 sized light IMO. Great job.

Any word when IntO will be getting more of those drivers? Anyone?

I've contacted them again asking when these will be in and am waiting for a reply. I asked them almost 3 weeks ago and at that time they said the following week. Obviously that never happened. I sure hope they get more in. I have one that arrived 2 days ago but I haven't tried it yet. This could be the perfect driver so I hope they can get more and continue to carry them in the future.

BTW, nice job, Graham!

Nice job. I’m waiting for a driver to do the same thing to my m10. Great light, just a little underpowered.

Great job! Thanks for detailed pics! Now I'm ready to receive your "1000 posts giveaway light" :) .

-Garry

I’m ready to recieve the 1000 post light to mod tbh, bloody post….

Nice job, thanks for the post and pics!

thanks for the info. i was thinking of getting one of these, but sold out and not sure if they would fit in the pill i was going to put it in… may have to keep an eye out and grab a couple when they are back

The driver is quite tall, I’ll take a picture of one of my others, mrsdnf measured it at 10.9mm, so some pills including p60 pills won’t take it, modding the m10 this way, the pill is plenty deep enough.

Thank you sir :slight_smile:
Im still waiting for my m10 to arrive tho. Great writeup for us noobs who’s willing to learn

Is the driver regulated?

Yes, to 4a, although of the two I know of, we’ve both gotten between 3.6 - 3.7a max. I can live with that for an xm-l, I wouldn’t want it in a p60 though tbh, it will generate a lot of heat, I’d be looking to see it in an hd2010 or I’m thinking it’d be good in a zy-t08.

Hey gords, what is a stock M10's driver like? How hard is it driven on high? How are the stock mode spacings? (High & Med too close? Low not a real low?) Did you replace the driver just because of the blinkies or was it to drive it harder?

Thanks bud!
-Garry

Hey Gary, the m10 driver does 2.5a on high, so a boost on my uf-v3, same five modes with a nice medium and a lowish low, it suits the uf-v3 better than the m10 for sure, I mainly fitted it because its a five minute swap (press in, press in retaining clip, solder led wires) and its added another .7a to high, I’ve not really played with it because its chucking it down with rain or snow and I’m too busy playing testing the m10, I love the low available on the ramping set up, you can stare at the die and see the led wires.

This driver really is good, grab some while their available but do order the ramping one, the three modes are so so, I’ve not even tried the various blinkies but there is a beacon mode available if I remember correctly. It’s made a good light a brilliant light. 8)

I'm now wondering how the M10 compares with a TF A8 for beam pattern. Wondering if the M10's beam is wider (more / brighter spill). Any idea? How would you describe the beam pattern of the M10? (And consider in view of using it as a bike light.)

2.5A on high isn't too bad; conserves a bit more battery to increase runtime while still being darn bright. Gonna have to put this on the short list!

-Garry

I’m not sure compared to the a8 yet, I’ve not got one…yet.

As a bike light, cehoward loved it (which has been bothering me, he’s not been on for weeks, hope he’s ok) I’ve used mine as a work light, under vehicles with it set according to ambient conditions.

The beam is pretty good, no rings, tight hotspot, fairly throwy, think c8, the reflector is deeper but about the same diameter, it has a pretty tight hotspot and a bright spill on high. As a general purpose light, its one of my favorites, hence the give away. Small enough to tuck into a jeans pocket (as long as their not skinny jeans), runs on a 26650 so good runtime even when overdriven, well capable of handling heat, very robust, good threads. It’s everything a good budget light should be, with none of the flaws. It looks ace flamed too.

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From left to right, uf-v3, keygos m10, jm05 clone.

I've been wondering about him too! Miss his excitement around here!

-Garry

Tell me about it, hope he’s good. :frowning:

like the heat treat you did on the m10… i been wondering if you had a incan mag modded with a hot enough bulb if you could get it to do the same thing on its own lol

Mags don’t seem to bake so well, and to be honest, that took me a good twenty minutes with a blow lamp, to give you an idea of the heat involved. :bigsmile: